Author: Rahul M

Seoul, July 28 (IANS) North Korea is not interested in any policy or proposal from South Korea and will not sit down with Seoul for talks, the powerful sister of state leader Kim Jong-un said Monday. Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the ruling party’s central committee, made the remarks in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has sought to resume dialogue with Pyongyang to ease military tension and improve inter-Korean ties. It marks the North’s first official statement on the Lee administration, which took office last month. “Looking…

THE Haryana government may be having a rethink over the appointment of Vikas Barala, an accused in a sexual harassment case, as Assistant Advocate General, but a scrutiny of the list shows that like Barala, many of those appointed as law officers are relatives of VIPs, including politicians and bureaucrats.This, ironically, when the Supreme Court, as early as 2016, had cautioned against such appointments and advised guidelines to insulate the process from politics. On July 18, Vikas Barala, the son of BJP Rajya Sabha MP and former Haryana BJP president Subhash Barala, was named as one of 97 law officers…

JERUSALEM — In several of the hospitals still functioning in the Gaza Strip, nurses are fainting from hunger and dehydration. Managers often cannot provide meals for patients or medical staff. Doctors are running low on formula for newborns, in some cases giving them water alone. And at least three major hospitals lack the nutritional fluids needed to properly treat malnourished children and adults.Those scenes were described in interviews starting Friday with seven doctors — four from Gaza, and three volunteers from Australia, Britain and the United States. All of them worked this past week in four of the territory’s main…

A policeman got injured while attempting to intervene in a fight between the families of a man and his ex-wife in Bengaluru on Friday. The police said one Tabrez Pasha alias Chor Tabrez, who had recently completed a prison sentence for murder, approached his ex-wife Muskan, who had remarried, leading to heated arguments between them. Pasha and his relatives confronted Muskan’s current husband at her mother’s place in Valmiki Nagar, and a fight broke out between them. Muskan’s maternal uncle, Mohammed Shafiullah, who was visiting his sister at the time, got injured when he tried to intervene. Story continues below…

Growing up in Yelburga taluk of Karnataka’s Koppal district in the 1970s and 1980s, Dr Rajesh Kishan Rao, now 51, experienced first-hand the ‘backwardness’ of the district, especially in the healthcare sector. This awareness gradually transitioned into a personal mission, a trigger point to pursue medicine and serve the rural households in the state.Dr Rao is a professor and unit head of cardiothoracic surgery at Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research (SJICS&R) in Bengaluru. Till now, he has over 600 minimally invasive cardiac surgeries (MICS) and over 3,000 cardiac surgeries to his name. “Operating on more and more…

Sky Cinema When she was announced as the lead in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” few fans had heard of Daisy Ridley, the British star cast to play Jedi-in-training Rey. A true up-and-comer, Ridley had few roles under her belt at the time, most of which were small — sometimes non-speaking — parts in single episodes of UK television shows like “Casualty,” “Toasts of London,” and “Mr. Selfridge.” With a major role in a blockbuster movie series, most probably pegged Ridley to become Hollywood’s next big British import. Unfortunately, since leading the…

GUIZHOU PROVINCE, China — The structure teeters over fields of knee-high grass, looking like a cross between a camping tent and a giant wedding cake. Eleven stories of dark red wooden rooms, diminishing in size as they ascend, balance atop one another, seemingly held together by only the thicket of cords that stretches from the peak to the ground. Inside feels no less precarious. The ceilings are propped up with repurposed utility poles. Power strips and wires dangle from low-hanging beams. Giant buckets of rainwater help support the weight of the structure. The homemade ladders that connect the floors perch…

In a massive blow for India, star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been ruled out of the fifth and final Test against England after sustaining a fracture to his right foot on day one of the fourth match at Old Trafford, Manchester. India have named Tamil Nadu and former CSK batter Narayan Jagadeesan as Rishabh’s replacement for the fifth Test against England, which will be played at The Oval from July 31. The 29-year-old Jagadeesan has scored 3373 runs from 52 first-class matches, which includes 10 centuries and 14 half-centuries, at an average of 47.50. “Rishabh Pant, who sustained a fracture…

Tubi TV Even in the modern cultural landscape, where horror cinema has transcended genre film and is pretty much considered to be mainstream, it can be hard for frightening movies to get their proper critical due. All too often, horror films get dismissed as being just a bunch of jump scares and derivative attempts to terrify people. While it’s true that tons of tepid horror films get released (we’re talking about the likes of “The Devil Inside” and “One Missed Call,” two of the worst horror movies of all time),…

Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar hit epic unbeaten centuries and propel a superb India to defy England and secure a draw in the fourth Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test at Old Trafford on Sunday.  With India at 0/2 and 311 runs behind in the beginning of their second innings, it seemed they would lose the match and the series. But a monumental, strong and resolute batting show – led by hundreds from Shubman Gill (103), Jadeja (107 not out) and Sundar (101 not out) – along with KL Rahul’s 90 meant the visitors’ conjured up a miraculous escape and secure a memorable,…